The Family Tabor
Fiction
Flatiron
July 17, 2018
Advanced Reader Copy
400
Free copy from publisher
Harry Tabor is about to be named Man of the Decade, a distinction that feels like the culmination of a life well lived. Gathering together in Palm Springs for the celebration are his wife, Roma, a distinguished child psychologist, and their children: Phoebe, a high-powered attorney; Camille, a brilliant social anthropologist; and Simon, a big-firm lawyer, who brings his glamorous wife and two young daughters.
But immediately, cracks begin to appear in this smooth facade: Simon hasn’t been sleeping through the night, Camille can’t decide what to do with her life, and Phoebe is a little too cagey about her new boyfriend. Roma knows her children are hiding things. What she doesn’t know, what none of them know, is that Harry is suddenly haunted by the long-buried secret that drove him, decades ago, to relocate his young family to the California desert. As the ceremony nears, the family members are forced to confront the falsehoods upon which their lives are built.
Set over the course of a single weekend, and deftly alternating between the five Tabors, this provocative, gorgeously rendered novel reckons with the nature of the stories we tell ourselves and our family and the price we pay for second chances.
Review:
After the highly successful Resurrection of Joan Ashby, I was curious to see if Ms. Wolas could hit another one out of the park. The answer is a resounding yes! Of course it doesn't hurt that this is my absolute favorite kind of story. A family who looks from the outside like the ideal, but who all have cracks beneath their surface. Once again, the writing was brilliant, and I was immediately absorbed in each of the family members lives. While I certainly can't say that I loved them all equally, they were all written so that you want to see how things work out for each of them. The author did a splendid job of keeping the story moving, since almost the entire book takes place over the course of one weekend. Having said that, it does give a detailed backstory of each family member. I loved it and felt it brought me closer to the workings of the characters, but some may not. The only bit of a downfall for me was the ending, which I wasn't a huge fan of (without going into any detail).
Another fantastic read from this author. I would highly recommend this one to anyone who loves family drama stories, by a highly skilled writer.
